On May 2, 2020, the Beta Psi class hosted its first fundraising event as New Actives! Originally intended to be a physical event on Bruinwalk, this super SWEET online event brought out the creativity and silliness in all participants. During the first Kappa Kappa Psi Pie-in-the-Face Fundraiser, Chapter members, as well as their friends and family, had the opportunity to pay to pie other members in the face over Zoom! There were a few people who pied themselves, but most volunteers were pied by a parent, sibling, or roommate in their household, which made the experience funnier and more interactive! This prompted a lot more participants, and pretty soon, family members and friends were joining the call and paying the chapter’s Venmo to pie certain Psi members! Not everyone had whipped cream lying around the house, so there were many creative alternatives involved! Brothers were getting pied with chocolate pudding, shaving cream, lotion, and mashed potatoes; some were even sprayed with hose water! Band Director Kevin McKeown himself attended the Zoom call, and was pied multiple times by practically everyone in attendance. Overall, it was a really fun and successful event for Chapter, and a great way for everyone to see each other again, despite quarantine! As the ultimate finale, everyone on the call pied themselves one last time, at the exact same time! After completing candidate lessons, candidate projects, and interviews, the Beta Psi candidate class was looking forward to celebrating Third Degree and becoming active brothers on Saturday, April 11, 2020! But then, the unexpected happened with the COVID-19 pandemic, and soon enough, our Spring Quarter became remote… Oh no, would we be able to become actives this Quarter after everything we’ve been through? The answer was a resounding “Yes!” Although we wouldn’t be able to partake in Third Degree immediately, we would transition into active brothers on Saturday, April 18, 2020. So on that date, a graduation was planned by our amazing Vice President and “Guiding Spirit” Erica Vellanoweth with the help from her Membership Committee! At 5:00 PM, members of the Beta Psi Class as well as brothers of the Psi Chapter gathered over Zoom to welcome the Psi Chapter’s newest class of Actives! The program started as a joint celebration with PsiEK Vice Presidents Erica Vellanoweth and Kerianne Brennan commemorating how far Psi’s Beta Psi Class and EK’s Alpha Omega class have come in terms of lessons learned and meaningful bonds formed. Then, in a brief intermission, each organization separated to have their own unique and personalized recognition of their soon-to-be actives, after which, Erica continued to emcee Psi’s ceremony. The next speaker was myself, as I served as Beta Psi Class President, and I delivered a reminiscent reflection of our undeniable spirit of brotherhood, our 10 PM candidate lessons, and our inside jokes/memes made throughout the candidate process (highlights include: numerous amounts of 8 Claps, the Rasputin dance from Just Dance 2, and the beloved Cowboy Emoji). Then, in arguably the most emotional and touching part of the graduation, each of our bigs presented a beautiful PowerPoint slide that included their favorite memory with us, a chosen superlative & patronus, and of course, favorite pictures of us! We were all incredibly touched by the kind words that our bigs had to say! Finally, after getting through all 29 slides, the final speech came from our Psi President Daniel Fernandez, and it was impactful as expected! To finish off our graduation, with Daniel’s strike of the gavel, Beta Psi was no longer a group of candidates, and we officially became your newest actives! As the graduation ended, some families gathered to keep the celebration going; one example being a few brothers of the Petrissage fam playing rounds of Skribbl.io and chatting over Zoom! What a fun & memorable evening/night it was!!
Ultimately, we would like to thank everyone who supported us through our candidate process, especially our bigs, all the brothers in our lines/fams, all those who interviewed with us, and the alumni who were part of our inspirational alumni panel! We can’t wait to bring our service, music, and leadership to the brotherhood and continue building on the amazing foundation provided to us by every brother before us! Get ready to hear a lot from us over the next 3 years because we are full of energy, passion, creativity, and love to share with the Psi Chapter and everyone around us! In the meantime though, stay safe and, as always, AEA! (Fun fact: we still have no idea what this means, and it will be revealed to us in “due time.” But honestly, “due time” can’t seem to come soon enough!) On a Friday afternoon in the middle of May, I prepared myself, a newly inducted Active in Psi, to meet my assigned mentor through Psi’s Alumni Mentor Program. My mentor, Caitlin Thompson, was a member of Beta Rho and continued on into the field of Public Policy as an Anthropology major. Being a Political Science major myself, I really wanted to gain the perspective of someone who not only was working in the field I wanted to go into, but also was able to graduate from UCLA while balancing multiple responsibilities (something I’ve learned is hard enough to do on its own). Admittedly, I was a bit nervous at first, my natural timidness not helped by the fact that I was soon going to be doing a Zoom call with someone who was, until that moment, a complete stranger. Fortunately, my fears were alleviated as soon as I got the chance to actually talk to my mentor. We talked about our lives, our hobbies, and about how career paths and interests can change as you continue on through college. More than conversations strictly about careers in public policy, Caitlin gave me helpful tips about college life and the great advice to make sure that I take time for self-care, especially during these difficult times. While it was definitely insightful to talk to my alumni mentor about career related topics, I felt especially happy that I was simply able to reach out to an alumnus that I had previously not known. I felt I was able to have a genuine conversation about my everyday activities and how I was dealing with college life, this being especially meaningful since this year turned out much different than I expected. I’m glad I had the opportunity to reach out to my mentor and I'm excited to be able to talk to alumni in the future! When we first found out that Spring Quarter was going to be conducted entirely remotely in light of the pandemic, Andy Nguyen and I, as Psi and EK’s (PsiEK’s) Directors of Service, were at a loss for what to do about our 2020 Day of Music and Leadership we had been preparing for.
As a new tradition still in its early years, PsiEK’s Day of Music and Leadership (DoMaL) is a day-long event that focuses on inviting high school musicians from the LA area to UCLA to spend the day with Psi and EK learning about leadership, music, and self-development in a variety of workshops that Brothers and Sisters put together. For the past few years, the highlight of the event has been the culminating Reading Band, in which all of the high school students, along with the Brothers and Sisters present, form a large sight-reading band conducted by graduate students or faculty from UCLA’s own Herb Alpert School of Music. With the sudden transition to remote instruction and UCLA operating almost entirely remotely (campus shut down and all), preparations for just about all of PsiEK’s operations were suddenly riddled with ambiguity and uncertainty. It took a lot of communication, collaboration, and trust, but little by little, we got the ball rolling on putting together a virtual DoMaL. Andy and I reconvened and agreed to do our best to make a virtual DoMaL happen. From there, we spoke at length regarding what the event would look like, reinstated the necessary committees, communicated with the workshop leaders, and so forth. In the process, we realized that we would have to cut some parts that would typically be included in the in-person event - for example, trying to get dozens of people to sight-read and play music together, in time, over a Zoom call for a remote Reading Band. Regardless, PsiEK still managed to put on a successful and worthwhile virtual DoMaL for high schoolers! Mid-morning the day of the event, I booted up my Zoom to welcome dozens of high schoolers alongside Andy. After explaining how the event would operate remotely, the welcome meeting dispersed and I spent the day popping in and out of different Zoom calls, delighted to see the many workshops running smoothly with a vibrant and engaged audience of high schoolers. Brothers and Sisters this year hosted workshops on woodwind techniques, brass methods, leadership in music, collaboration in leadership, public speaking, college applications, and more! I even hosted my own workshop on self-care in a quarantine and had a lovely conversation with a group of high school students and fellow Brothers and Sisters about what self-care looks like for us and how we can improve on caring for our best selves. After all of the workshops, the virtual event ended with a laughter-filled Question and Answer session with a group of Brothers and Sisters for the high school students. We shared a lot of stories about music, college, and life with each other and had fun providing guidance to the high school musicians in the rest of their journeys as students, musicians, and people. With immense gratitude, I am happy to say that PsiEK’s 2020 virtual DoMaL was a resounding success! In the age of the quarantine, the brothers and sisters of PsiEK clamored for something exciting to do. With all of our classes online and everyone stuck at home, we had lost not only our motivation to study, but the heart-pounding stress of the fast-paced quarter system. We couldn’t take it anymore, and we could no longer ignore our innate, burning desire to walk the fine line between success and failure, winner and loser. Thus, the PsiEK Zoom Pokemon Showdown Tournament was born (and will now be narrated by an idiot who has no idea what I’m talking about in regards to virtual, pixelated, fictional, and borderline unethical animal fighting for our own entertainment).
It began on Zoom, at some time on some day that I can’t remember because time has blurred into a mush of stagnancy and impending doom. There were 32 of us in total (and some spectators), thirsting for violence amongst physically impossible critters with funny names, who shoot into existence from small orbs colloquially known as “Dragon balls” (CITATION NEEDED)? I had no idea what I was doing, as I am uncultured, and had never played Pokemon before. I was nervous, and I would’ve been sweating had I not been so dehydrated from drinking way too many coffees each day out of sheer boredom. First, Tournament Master Ryan Lee began to explain the structure of the tournament: we would be playing double elimination with both a winners and losers bracket, we would be paired and split into Zoom breakout rooms to fight, and we would be battling on pokemonshowdown.com with random teams of Pokemon at our disposal. Next, the scholar known as Matt Chin informed inexperienced players such as myself that the key to victory was a Pokemon type chart, which would allow us to assess which evolutionary monstrosities would be most effective or most vulnerable in a given fight. I frantically googled one of these charts, and prayed to my ancestors for luck as the tournament began. My first match was against Natalie Wang, a new Psi active and fellow alto, who like me, also had no idea what to do. Our fight was slow and methodical, not because we were good, but because we were constantly referring to our Pokemon type charts to figure out what to do. I somehow managed to win this match, with the help of my unfairly powerful spooky ghost-looking thingy with psychic and d A rk powers. I felt powerful, perhaps too powerful, ravenous for the next fight. Next up, I was against a new sister, Elija Balanga, who utterly destroyed and demoralized me, with barely any effort. I was up against a true master, and with each of my Pokemon quickly going down, I felt helpless, like an infant trying and failing to grasp the concept of object permanence. After this defeat, I was reminded of my mortality, and approached the next battle with extreme caution. I only had one chance left to claim clout and victory in this tournament. Now in the loser’s bracket, I faced another new sister, Raghu Tekumalla, and somehow came out on top. I felt immortal once again, and like Hercules at the end of Hercules, I climbed out of the brink of defeat. I was surprised to see that my next opponent was Katie Osborn, a brother, and fellow relative of the esteemed Driftwood family. I sent out my first Pokemon to do battle, and BOOM, Katie blew it up. I sent another, and another, and another, until finally, Katie had easily and relentlessly decimated my forces. I cried without tears (again, I’m very dehydrated), finally accepting that I was now out of the tournament. I subsequently dropped out of school in shame, just weeks away from graduation (CITATION NEEDED). In the end, Elija ended up the champion of the tournament, demonstrating to all of us that he indeed is a cold-blooded killer who should not be trifled with, lest you want to experience crushing defeat and humiliation. All bow down to Elija, our new overlord, President and CEO of PsiEK. May he lead our Pokemon armies to victory in our war against [INSERT THREAT HERE]. Overall, 10/10 tournament, would do again. On a serious note, Pokemon showdown is genuinely really fun to play with friends online. Check it out if you haven’t already (just have the Pokemon type chart ready)! If you would like to get more involved in our chapter this quarter, here are some ways you can!
Thank you for reading this edition of the Encore. Stay safe and stay home everyone! Volume XV - Issue II - Winter 2020 Hello alumni!
I hope you are all staying safe and healthy during this very unusual time. I am excited to bring you this edition of the Encore, as our Winter quarter has been one filled with fun and brotherhood. In addition to cheering our Men's and Women's Basketball teams through another exciting season, brothers participated in festive bake sales, many PsiEK and brotherhood bonding activites, and one very tension-filled game of Band Assassins. All the while the candidates of the Beta Psi class continued with their process, attending Degrees, family events, and many interviews filled with laughter and the joy of new connections. However, this time has also been difficult and uncertain. The pandemic has cut both the Winter quarter and the rest of this school year short, and many of the things we look forward to at this time - from basketball trips to Beach House - will unfortunately be unable to take place. With things moving so quickly it has been difficult for our chapter to plan, so we greatly appreciate the patience and support you all have shown while we figure things out! Now that things are settled, at least for the forseeable future, I have some updates for you all regarding how the rest of the year will go. First, the candidate process. Since National requirements state that the process be completed this quarter, candidates are continuing with interviews and Final Project presentations online. While we cannot hold Third Degree this quarter (and are unsure of when we will be able to) Beta Psi will still transition to activehood this month! More information on this can be found in the message from the current chapter president, Daniel Fernandez, which is included below. An important note is that candidate lessons, including the Alumni Panel, are still continuing remotely over Zoom. After deliberation our VP has scheduled the Panel for this Friday, April 10th at 6 p.m. PST. If you are available at this time please let me know! We would love to have you if you are free, especially to try to keep things as normal as possible for our current candidates. Secondly, some info about general operations for this quarter. Chapter meetings are continuing remotely, and we will be holding Elections virtually as well. I am looking forward to announcing our new Officers to you all at the end of the quarter! Any events that cannot be held remotely have been cancelled, including this year's Beach House. Third Degree (and all the events leading up to it) have been postponed, at this point indefinitely since we are unable to be sure when things will return to normal. Otherwise, however, we are trying to carry on as normally as possible! We are still holding virtual social and music events, and trying our best to adapt fundraising and service events. There will be a Spring Encore, and I'm excited to tell you all about our online adventure when that time comes! Until then, and as always, please reach out if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, or ideas! I hope you are staying healthy and amused if you are at home, and if you work in health or any other essential field I hope you are staying safe and know how much you are appreciated. If you need any help during this time please feel free to reach out as well. Thank you all for your continued support of our chapter even during this crazy time, and hopefully I will be able to see you all soon! :) AEA, Haley Breland Alumni Relations Officer, 2018-2020 In the days leading up to Second Degree, our wonderful DoBSR's Ryan and Shruti organized PsiEK Social Night! This was a brand new event that allowed for current brosters as well as many candidates of the Beta Psi class from Psi and Alpha Omega class from our sister chapter of Epsilon Kappa to come together for a night of BONDing.
The event was set up so the candidates of EK were in a room with active members of Psi, and the Psi candidates were in a room with the actives of EK. This allowed us to begin to foster relationships with candidates from the Alpha Omega class that we wouldn't have otherwise gotten to meet in preparation for the epic crossover event that is our Second Degree. PsiEK Social Night consisted of many small group activities, including placing on your head a piece of paper describing one half of an iconic duo and finding your other half in the crowd, building the tallest and most stable structures possible using only spaghetti and marshmallows, a blindfolded puzzle race, and an overall fantastic opportunity for a lot of great memories with the soon-to-be sisters. We concluded the night by planning skits in our small groups with the challenge of re-interpreting movies that we picked at random into a completely new genre. My group wrestled with the task of turning Disney’s Frozen into a thought-provoking public service announcement piece emphasizing the dangers of climate change. At the end of the night, we were met with the surprise of performing these skits in front of a united group of PsiEK actives and candidates. Unsurprisingly given the vast amount of creative talent in PsiEK, each skit was an absolute hoot to watch and the room was filled to the brim with laughter. PsiEK Social Night allowed for an abundance of goofiness, joy, and quality time with brosters that was a beam of joy and optimism in the midst of a hectic Winter Quarter. A huge thank you to our DoBSR’s and their committees for spearheading this awesome new opportunity for us to get closer to our sisters and cherish the bond. MLITB! On February 7th, the brothers and sisters had a fun time strengthening the bond with another PsiEK Big/Little Date Night. What made this one particularly exciting was that it happened to be on a Friday – not just any old Friday, but one that happens only when the planets align (which happens to be the first Friday of every month). For this Date Night, Bigs and Littles took a quick trip down to Venice for First Fridays! Our wonderful Directors of Brotherhood and Sisterhood Relations did an amazing job setting up this event, from coordinating both of our chapters to handling logistics of getting everyone there and back! If you’re like me, you probably waited until the last minute possible to sign up (yikes), but in the end everyone who wanted to go found a way to get there.
By the end of the night, as if we were moths drawn to lamps, everyone somehow ended up at Salt and Straw. The line went out the door as usual, as brothers and sisters waited very patiently to round off the night with a treat. Some exchanged their personal Yelp reviews of the food trucks they had visited, while others fooled around to pass the time. After getting a hold of some delectable ice cream, all of us headed out and formed a large mob outside of the establishment, where we all just spent some quality time talking to each other, sharing laughs and stories to destress from the struggles of the quarter. Honestly, PsiEK could have taken over all of Venice with the amount of people occupying the sidewalk outside of Salt and Straw! (Next time, perhaps…) Finally, as everyone finished their dessert and the bustle of Venice was winding down, it was time to head home. After a little back-and-forth, everyone managed to find a ride back home, and we all parted ways to wrap up a great night.
PsiEK had a blast getting to interact with lifelong friends that night. This Date Night will be a memorable one for us all!
Watch out world, because the Lion/FeLion(the name is a work in progress) Line is coming for you! |
George MooradianAlumni Relations Officer 2022-2023 Archives
January 2023
Categories
|